A Trip Down Memory Lane
by r4ven3
Summary: Set today - in 2015 - Ruth agrees to meet some of the old crowd. My second one shot for Ruth's birthday.


_**A/N: Thank you to those who read, reviewed and commented on "Dreaming With A Broken Heart." I promise this further one shot for Ruth's birthday is much happier.**_

* * *

London - 29th April, 2015 – 4.48 pm:

Ruth hesitated outside the door, confident in the knowledge that to those inside the café her face would be hidden from view by the large green awning which covered the top half of the window. She shivered a little as a cool wind whipped along the narrow street, and she tucked her hands into the deep pockets of her coat. It had seemed like a good idea at the time when she'd agreed to meet with a few of her old colleagues from MI5, but today was her forty-fifth birthday, and she'd sooner be elsewhere. She'd changed her mind at least ten times, vacillating between a desire to again see Erin and Dimitri and Calum, and wanting to leave the past behind her. She couldn't change it, wouldn't want to change it. Her life since she'd left MI5 had turned out well for her, and she had no complaints. It hadn't always been easy. She'd married, and she and her husband had not always seen eye to eye, but all in all it was a good marriage, and with neither of them in the first flush of youth, they appreciated what they had together. Ruth would not change anything about her life post-MI5.

In the end her longing to meet up with old friends had won over her desire to keep her private life private. During the eight years she'd worked in Thames House she had had little time for mixing with people from outside the service, so that her colleagues soon became her friends. They'd been close, and they'd trusted one another, and you can't get better friends than that. Ruth took a deep breath, stepped towards the door, pushed it open, and walked through.

She looked around inside, allowing her eyes a moment to adjust to the softer lighting. There, sitting across from one another at a table too large for two was Erin Watts and Calum Reid. Ruth saw them before they saw her. It was Calum who first looked up, and Ruth acknowledged him with a little wave of her hand.

Calum stood, and hurried towards her, his arms out as though he was about to hug her. Ruth smiled into his eyes, and as he reached her, she removed her coat, which he then took from her hands and draped over one of the spare chairs at their table. "Look who it is," he said to Erin. "Mamma Bear. She's here."

Not knowing quite how she should respond to that overly familiar introduction, Ruth smiled into Erin's eyes, said a shy `hello', and sat in the seat Calum held out for her. Thankfully, she had an uninterrupted view of the door from where she sat.

"I'm so glad you could make it," Erin said, clearly trying to get a conversation going. "I wasn't sure ..."

"Neither was I. I had to reschedule some of my teaching load, but that's easily done. Thankfully, the university appreciates my contribution enough to give me time off when I need it." Ruth smiled up at Erin, and then turned to face Calum. Apart from a line or two at the outer edges of his eyes he looked exactly the same. "You look good, Calum. No Mrs Reid?"

"Why does everyone want me to settle down? I enjoy playing the field, and besides, I haven't yet managed to sleep my way through all the single female staff at Vauxhall Cross."

"Since at least a fifth of them are over the age of fifty, and statistically ten percent of them will be gay, it should never have taken you this long," Erin says, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

Ruth had left London soon after Erin had joined the staff, and so had had little time in which to get to know her. She felt she'd had nothing in common with her, but now ….. now things were different … in both their lives.

"Is Dimitri coming?" Ruth asked.

"He should be. It's our six month wedding anniversary today, and he promised me he'd be here."

"Congratulations," Ruth said, smiling, "and how's Rosie? How old is she now?"

"She's ten-going-on-seventeen, and apart from being totally in love with Di, she's currently in deep grief over the news that Zayn is leaving One Direction."

"Sorry? You've lost me there."

"They're a boy band," Calum explained.

"That explains it," Ruth replied. "I'm not up on boy bands."

"I only know about them because Rosie has posters of them all over her bedroom walls " Erin said.

"You can only hope she and her little mates won't capture this guy, holding him hostage in her room," Calum said.

Ruth smiled. She had forgotten the ribbing which Calum gave – to everyone and anyone. He had spared no-one, not even Harry. "Have you ordered yet?" she asked. "I'd love a latte."

Calum quickly got to his feet. "I'll get us all lattes. Erin? How about you? Soy latte? Skinny choc chino latte? Latte with the lot? Latte with organic froth? "

"Just plain everyday latte is fine for me. We can order food when Di gets here …. which should be soon." Calum left the table to order, which left Ruth and Erin alone. Ruth began to feel a little nervous. Should she tell them it's her birthday? They really had no reason to know, and to do so may only serve to embarrass them. Should she talk about her family? "Is your husband planning to join us, Ruth?"

Ruth was suddenly dumbstruck. What to say? How much did they need to know? "Umm …. I think so. He has some business to attend to first. He says he'll call in …. a little later."

"That's good. It will be nice to meet him." Calum had returned to the table, and was pulling his chair out ready to sit when Erin continued. "I heard you have a child, Ruth."

Ruth had been gazing around at the other patrons, and Erin's question took her by surprise. "Yes," she said at last. "I have a daughter."

"Name, rank and serial number?" Calum said, leaning his elbows on the table.

"Her name is Ruby, and she turns three in July. She's …. lovely. She keeps us young."

"Until she turns fifteen, and then she'll be sending you to an early grave."

"_Calum_!" Erin's eyebrows drew together in disapproval. "Who is looking after her today?"

"She's …. she has a much older half-sister, so I dropped her off there. They don't see a lot of one another, so it's ….."

"If she's even half as lovely as you, Ruth, she'll be smashing," said Calum. "Does she look like you?"

"Well …." Ruth imagines Ruby, and how she is always amazed by her little girl's clear individuality, despite appearing to be an even mix of both her parents. "She has my eyes, and the rest of her is ….. like her father."

"So she's ugly, but with beautiful eyes," he quipped.

"_Calum_. That's a horrible thing to say," Erin scolded.

"I'm just giving Mamma Bear a trip back down memory lane. She needs to have something to remember us by. Who knows when we'll meet again."

"And Dimitri," Ruth asked, quickly changing the subject. "What is he doing now? It must be lonely at Thames House without him near."

"It's …. different at Thames House. Most of the operatives are younger than me, so I now have an inkling of how Harry must have felt. I feel like everyone's aunt, or older sister. Di's working for an international security agency – on contract, so he moves around a lot, and is outside the UK quite a bit. As much as I miss him, I know he's safer than he was when he was with MI5, and our reunions are …... rather lovely."

Their coffees were delivered to the table, along with three menus. "We're waiting for someone else," Erin explained, "and when he arrives we'll order our meals."

The waiter nodded, said "Take your time," and then quickly left. They sipped their lattes in silence. Ruth kept her eyes down. She'd noticed that when Harry's name had been mentioned she had felt the discomfort in the air between the three of them. Ruth had left MI5 after a massive row with Harry. It had been over the Russians, and more specifically, Harry's announcing to her that he was Sasha Gavrik's father. Ruth had left in a hurry and a huff and moved to Oxford, where she had found herself some regular and uncomplicated work, but there was so much her two companions didn't know. She had had to weave a veil of secrecy around her life after MI5, both for her own protection and the protection of her husband and daughter.

Ruth's musings were interrupted by the arrival of Dimitri Levendis, tall and good looking and tanned. He clapped his hand on Calum's shoulder, leaned down to kiss his wife, and then grasped Ruth's hand and pulled her out of her chair so that he could hug her. His hug was all-enveloping and warm, and Ruth felt the sting of tears in her eyes as her nose pressed against his chest. She'd forgotten how much these people had once meant to her. She'd forgotten the camaradie, the friendship, the loyalty, and the sense of belonging. Their losses had been frequent and shocking, and so with each loss the bonds between those left behind became stronger and more meaningful.

Suddenly, with Dimitri's arrival the conversation flowed more easily, and Ruth found herself laughing along with the others. They talked of the days on the Grid before Ruth had so suddenly left, leaving no explanation for her departure.

"Ruth, you must remember that time Beth and Alec sent Tariq to the stationery cupboard to get a left-handed stapler." She did, of course, but Tariq had returned to the Grid after only a few minutes, realising that he'd been set up.

"Have you heard anything of Beth?" she asked him.

"No. Last I heard she was back in Africa. That's not a good sign."

"No, it's not. Did you know that Alec White died?"

"No. How did you know?" Dimitri's back was to the door, and he couldn't see the man who had just walked through it, his eyes quickly sweeping the whole room, and then settling on their table, glancing at each one of them in turn, but eventually softening as his gaze settled on her.

"My husband told me," Ruth replied, finding it hard to keep the smile from her lips.

"Your husband? Lucky guy. Who is he? Anyone we know?"

Ruth turned her eyes from Dimitri to once more meet the eyes of her husband as he crossed the café towards them, determination pushing his lips into a familiar pout. "I don't know, Dimitri, but he's here now, so ….."

Dimitri turned just in time to see Ruth's husband place a hand on his own shoulder. "Fu – I mean, bloody hell." He rose from his chair and turned to grasp Harry's hand in both of his. "Jesus, why didn't you tell us? I had no idea. Last time I saw you both you were barely on speaking terms. Here, let me get a chair for you."

Dimitri grabbed a chair from the next table and placed it next to his own. Meanwhile, Harry shook hands with Calum, kissed Erin's cheek, and then approached Ruth. The others at the table fell silent as Harry leaned down to kiss his wife on the lips. The kiss was quick but much more than a peck, and once Harry stood upright Calum began clapping.

"That was worth waiting for," he said, a little too loudly, so that some other diners turned their heads to see what all the commotion was about. "Not only Mamma Bear, but Pappa Bear too."

Once Harry was seated beside Dimitri the conversation picked up, and Erin wanted to know how Ruth and Harry had managed to get married and have a child when they had parted on such angry terms.

"Once I knew she was living in Oxford I went begging, plying her with chocolates and flowers," Harry said.

"And I gave away the chocolates, but kept the flowers."

"And then I bribed her with jewellery, and she couldn't say no."

"Oh, but I said no several times before I said yes."

"I was prepared to ask her until she said yes, no matter how long it took."

"I couldn't say yes straight away. I had to make him work for it."

"I would have waited forever."

"I wouldn't ... but I had to be sure he was serious ... about me ... about us."

"And our daughter was a very welcome and unexpected consequence," Harry added, his eyes holding Ruth's throughout their exchange.

The other three at the table, feeling superfluous, watched as the conversation tipped between Ruth and Harry. Those watching from other tables noticed that three heads turned from side to side, while the older couple held one another's gaze while playing a gentle game of verbal tennis.

Eventually Harry's eyes left his wife, and took in the others at the table. "Has Ruth told you that today is her birthday?"

"Ruth – you dark horse."

"No, she hasn't."

"We'll have to crack open something to celebrate."

"I have a better idea," Harry said, again watching Ruth from across the table. "Why don't we retire to a restaurant …. or a pub …. and we can then celebrate your birthday with champagne. My treat."

"Well, put like that …." Calum began.

"I'll drink to that," Dimitri said, "Erin?"

"That sounds lovely."

"And I know just the place," Harry added, still watching Ruth carefully. "Ruth?"

"You're taking us all to Enzo's?" Harry nodded. "It's near the river," she explained to the others. "It was while having dinner at Enzo's that Harry proposed to me."

"How romantic," Erin said. "Are you sure you want the three of us to be tagging along?"

"We had company when he proposed."

"Oh?"

"Our daughter. I was five months pregnant at the time."

"Brilliant!" Calum exclaimed, rising from his chair. "This time you'll be accompanied by three children rather than the one."

"Calum!"

Calum smiled as he pulled Erin from her chair by her hand, and then Dimitri slid his arm around Erin and led her to the door. Calum followed them at a short distance. Harry helped Ruth with her coat, and then took her hand in his, kissed her knuckles, and then very slowly followed the others.

Just before they reached the doorway, Ruth stopped Harry by squeezing his hand.  
"What about Ruby? We can't -"

"We can, Ruth. Catherine is expecting to have her overnight. She _wants_ to have her overnight. When I left they were making pancakes."

"Sure?"

"I'm sure. Now …. we have some celebrating to do." He smiled into her eyes as he pulled her through the doorway to join the others.

_Fin_


End file.
